8


Issue 6 2020 - Freight Business Journal


the Covid crisis when shippers of medical


supplies


The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched the IATA ONE Source online platform to help the air cargo industry match shipping needs with available infrastructure and


certifications of service providers. It


lists the latest operational


information on airlines, airports, cargo handling facilities, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers, and trucking


companies, with all critical verified by IATA. It is free for all service providers across the air cargo supply chain. IATA says the launch is particularly timely during


and pharmaceuticals need accurate information for time- and temperature-sensitive shipments. ONE Source is part of the


IATA Smart Facility program, an initiative to create transparency in cargo handling services and enhance operational capabilities across the industry.


American plans 1,000-flight all-cargo programme


American Airlines is planning a cargo-only schedule of more than 1,000 flights serving 32 cities in September, doubling its


August programme. Together


with passenger flights with bellyhold capacity, this will give cargo customers access to more


Airbridge to Lebanon


Emirates SkyCargo is operating a freighter airbridge to Lebanon in the wake of the Port of Beirut explosions with over 50 dedicated flights. Emirates has been serving Lebanon since 1991 with a currently regular service of two daily 777 flights to Beirut, with


plans to add further frequencies. It is also urging people


to donate cash or pledge their Skywards Miles to help coordinate shipments of urgent food, medical supplies and other much needed items with a range of NGO partners.


than 2,200 flights throughout the month. The cargo flights – the first all-freight services operated by the carrier since 1984 – were


essentially an independent mini- airline, said Tom Howard, who led the operation at American’s Integrated Operations Center.


News Roundup


Qatar Airways Group has launched international investment arbitrations against the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to seek redress for the air, sea and land blockade imposed on its home country since June 2017. The airline is seeking a total of at least US$5 billion from the blockading states as compensation. The blockade was imposed over Qatar’s alleged support for terrorist groups.


Qatar Airways is to resume daily Boeing 787 flights between its Doha hub and London Gatwick from 20 August. Connections are available in the Middle East to destinations in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Australasia. It already offers thrice-daily flights to Heathrow, twice-daily to Manchester and three times a week to Edinburgh. It has also resumed services to Nairobi, Kenya with 14 weekly flights and to Kigali Rwanda with three weekly flights. The airline now operates 33 weekly flights to eight destinations in Africa including Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Tunis.


Geodis is launching a new, guaranteed 4-to-6-day business to consumer delivery service from the US to 27 European countries. MyParcel aims to offer an alternative for the many online buyers that are dissuaded from making purchases by high shipping costs, long delivery times, customs fees and taxes that are not revealed until aſter payment or lack of a clear return policy. It will initially ship small packages within 4-6 days and will be progressively expanded globally. It includes validation of delivery addresses and merchandise HS codes, a tax and customs duty calculator, an option to reschedule delivery and shipment tracking.


Department for Transport


statistics for the second quarter of 2020, released on 9 September, show a dramatic fall in traffic, says the British Ports Association (BPA). In April to June 2020, total


traffic decreased 18% to 96.1 million tonnes compared with the same three months in 2019, while unitised traffic (containers, trucks and trailers), fell 44% to 3.2 million units. BPA said that the figures


confirmed that the pandemic had “brought severe disruption to trade flows and demand in the


economy”. Policy and economic analyst,


Phoebe Warneford-Thomson, said that the fall in unitised traffic is not surprising, as containers and freight carried by trucks are a good barometer of the overall economy.


It reflected a


decline in finished goods bound for the high street as well as raw materials


for manufacturing,


both of which largely suspended operations during the lockdown. However,


ports have


continued to supply the country with essentials during the pandemic, including


Safmarine and Damco names to disappear


AP Moller-Maersk is to carry out a restructuring of


its shipping


and forwarding activities, with the Safmarine and Damco brands set to disappear by the end of the year. The


Safmarine southern


African shipping brand will be integrated into Maersk while forwarding arm Damco’s air and less than container load (LCL) offering will be combined with Maersk’s logistics services. The Danish owned group is also promising a simplified and


customer-centric global ocean and logistics organisation. Shipping subsidiary Hamburg


Süd will remain as a separate entity but back office operations will be brought closer together into more customer-centric teams, while continuing to offer two separate brands with a differentiated service model, says AP Moller. It added that the changes


“represent a major step towards becoming


an container transport and logistics integrated supermarket goods, medical


products and PPE. Furthermore, certain areas, such as DIY timber performed well, along with toilet rolls. BPA added ports have


remained resilient since June, although official figures are not yet available: “While trade flows may not be at 100% levels, we are seeing some return to normality.” Previous analysis by the BPA


indicated that ports may be increasingly busy approaching the end of the transition period. In the fourth quarter of 2018,


company, connecting and simplifying customers’ supply chains”. In a statement, Hamburg Süd


said that a multi-brand Regional Ocean Management team would be set up along with an extended management team in its Hamburg headquarters. AP Moller-Maersk said that the


integration of Damco’s air and LCL activities into Maersk would create a simplified, connected and agile experience under the Maersk brand, as well as to its scale. Maersk would not pursue the ocean FCL Multi-carrier product NVOCC as a general offering.


AP Moller-Maersk also


approaching the original Brexit deadline of 29 March 2019, UK ports saw a 6% growth in tonnage as UK manufacturers stockpiled inventory ahead of expected disruption. It has been suggested that any reserves that might have been accrued then have now been used as a result of the Covid lockdown. With looming recession,


the ongoing pandemic, pinch- points in trade talks and the looming possibility of no-deal, international trade flows into Britain may be set further disruption, BPA adds.


completed the acquisition of pan-European customs services provider, KGH Customs Services, on 2 September. Meanwhile, rival forwarder


DB Schenker said it was offering a “stability package” for Damco customers following the AP Moeller-Maersk’s decision to discontinue the brand and its FCL NVOCC business. It includes an offer to take over


short-term service agreements of up to two months’ contract period for the same conditions as agreed with Damco. For companies in longer-term


agreements with Damco, DB Schenker pledges to provide prioritized quotes at short notice.


UPS is launching Saturday deliveries in eight of Europe’s top e-commerce markets, including the UK, saying that Monday to Friday-only deliveries no longer fit customers’ expectations. The service is offered at the normal weekday cost when shipping to one of more than 17,000 UPS Access Point locations such as convenience stores.


Over 88,000 tonnes of cargo travelled through Heathrow in July, with a gradual shiſt from freighters to the belly hold of passenger planes, said the airport in its latest figures. However, 60% of freight is still travelling on cargo only flights compared to 5% before the crisis. Cargo volumes continue to be impacted by the decline of long-haul passenger traffic, which has drastically reduced bellyhold cargo capacity. Passengers in July, at 860,000, were down 88% on the previous year.


FedEx and Cargolux have delivered more than 60 tons of aid to medical personnel in Beirut, Lebanon on a dedicated charter flight. The carrier picked up $11 million worth of medicines, medical supplies and PPE from Santa Barbara, California and trucked the load to Memphis for loading onto a FedEx Express Boeing 777. The shipment was flown to Luxembourg for transfer to cargo airline Cargolux, which also donated its services, to transport the supplies to Beirut. The supplies will help restore health facilities aſter the port explosion earlier this month.


LOT Polish Airlines is adding Dublin to its route network on 23 August aſter an absence of more than a decade. It plans to offer a four times a week connection from Warsaw Chopin with a Boeing 737-800 aircraſt on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. LOT began service between the two cities in 2004 but ended the route three years later. Aer Lingus suspended its four times a week service in January 2018, apart from short-term reinstatements at Christmas.


Aberdeen Standard Investments’ AIPUT fund (Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust) has let units 5-7 (40,000 sq ſt) at Heathrow’s Airport Gate to freight forwarding company, PRS Distribution, on a five-year lease. PRS was previously a tenant at AIPUT’s Blackthorne Point. AIPUT added that it has bucked the Covid effect, achieving full occupancy across its London airport industrial real estate.


///NEWS Air


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28